About The Haunting of Gallagher Hotel

The Haunting of Gallagher Hotel follows two people; Chris and Riley. When they get a mysterious invitation to the Gallagher Hotel they both take up the offer. Chris just wants to steal stuff so he can get away from his family. Riley’s there as a contract waitress just hoping to make a few extra bucks. Getting all of the guests there is a way for the owners to try and promote a hotel that is haunted. But soon the guests realize that there’s something really wrong with the place. Is this just a ploy so that the hotel can get some attention? Or is there something really wrong with this place?

What I thought about The Haunting of Gallagher Hotel

The Haunting of Gallagher Hotel follows two characters; Chris and Riley. This book follows their journey through a haunted hotel that’s just a little bit more than haunted. With this story there’s a little bit of gore, a lot of character development, and twists and turns further you get into the story. What is there not to love about a story like this?

Characters

When it comes to horror books, characters are one of the hardest things to get me attached to. I don’t know why but most horror books that I tend to pick up are more plot-driven and really don’t have a lot of character development. But that’s not true when it comes to The Haunting of Gallagher Hotel. I wasn’t exactly a fan of Chris at least not until the end of the book. Let’s just say he kind of redeems himself and I ended up really liking him more after that moment.

I actually liked Riley throughout the entire book. She’s realistic and jumps off the page. On top of that, she’s raw and not the perfect person that a lot of authors make their characters out to be. I don’t like perfect characters because they tend to make the story boring. So, having a character with flaws that’s still likable is something I want more of when it comes to horror books.

I actually felt really bad for Riley when you find out about her past. As I stated before a lot of the books I have been reading don’t really have that great of a character dynamic or personality. That’s what I ended up loving about The Haunting of Gallagher Hotel. Riley actually has some depth behind her and towards the ending of the book, I actually felt really bad with all that she went through. That actually says a lot because I have read several books where a character goes through a lot and I don’t exactly feel anything for them.

The only thing that I wish was a little different in that we got a little bit more background on Brenda. Brenda is a mysterious character from the very beginning of the story, but later on, you find out more about her. Granted we do get some background on her but I do kind of feel like it wasn’t enough to explain why she is the way that she is.

The Plot

The start of this book actually starts off with a bang and really grabbed my attention. The opening of this book is really how you start a book! It leads you to wonder what’s going on, what’s going to happen, and what lead to something like this happening to this particular character. So the start of the book is awesome.

The book does slow down a bit through the story which is okay because the storyline still grabs your attention. It’s something that does pick up later on in the book. The plot is creepy and unsettling. It has some gore throughout the book but it’s not so bad if you’re not really a fan of a book depending on gore.

How do you guys feel about horror books that deal with a haunted house?

If you want more books about haunted houses then you might like Smithy.